S&P's new low carbon index

Despite the volatility of the stock market, Standard & Poor's has launched the new U.S. Carbon Efficient Index.

Today, the S&P 500 Index closed down one percent to 676.53. This is less than half of the 52-week high of 1,440.24. The Dow is also down to levels not seen in over a decade. Despite the volatility of the market, there is a growing demand for eco-focused investments. To help answer this demand, Standard & Poor's has announced its newest endeavor, the U.S. Carbon Efficient Index.

"Standard & Poor's is the first independent index provider to offer a broad U.S. market index with an environmental focus, reinforcing our position as the premier provider of global thematic focused indices." With the addition of the S&P US Carbon Efficient Index to the global thematic family, the series will now cover such green themes as Water, Forestry, Eco and Carbon efficiency." Source: David Blitzer, S&P - PR Newswire

The companies included in this new index are large cap U.S. companies currently listed on the S&P 500 that have a relatively low carbon footprint. Some interesting companies are included in the U.S. Carbon Efficient Index including General Motors, Wynn Resorts and Motorola, Inc. The entire list, which consists of 365 companies, is available on the S&P website.

For more information on the S&P U.S. Carbon Efficient Index, read the following PDF files: